


Taking One for the Team (MC HC 6)

by TheChocolateArmor



Category: NormalBoots, PBG Hardcore, PBG Hardcore series
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Explosions, Gen, Potions, i have no life whatsoever, much sadness, rip jared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 22:52:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14778803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheChocolateArmor/pseuds/TheChocolateArmor
Summary: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PBGHC'S 6TH MINECRAFT SEASON!!-----(Basically it's just Jared's death)





	Taking One for the Team (MC HC 6)

**Author's Note:**

> I was gonna post this a while ago, but school got really busy and stuff. Thankfully, now, I actually have time to get on the computer and post this! It's a bit long, but I hope you enjoy!

“Okay, all we need to do is distribute the potions.”  
With a creaking sound, Jared Knabenbauer opened the humble wooden chest before him, revealing rows of lightly dusted glass bottles. They chinked together as Jared carefully pulled them out of the darkness two at a time, and lifted them into his strong arms. Holding all nine of the bottles, he kicked the chest closed again.

Ignoring the strange way the liquids inside the bottles smelled, he carried them all down the creaky stairs of the house. He smiled slightly, as he came into view of his comrades, who simply loitered in the front hall.

Jared was proud of these drinks. He'd worked all through the previous day creating them- six gleaming fuschia drafts of Strength potions, and three lavender concoctions of Swiftness ones.

Carefully using the ingredients he'd had on hand, Jared had toiled away at the brewing stand in the attic- carefully calculating precise measurements with eye-droppers and glass measuring cups, watching to make sure the drink didn't boil over, disposing of his failed attempts. Finally, he could show the others what his patience and determination had brought them.

“Guys, I got the potions,” he announced, setting the glass bottles down on a small table. “I have three Strength potions that will work for three minutes, three enhanced Strength potions that will go for eight minutes, and three regular Swiftness potions.”

The others in the room nodded, looking a bit pleased with how the drafts had turned out. Smiling, Jared tossed two three-minute Strength potions and one Swiftness to Chad, the newest member of the group. He, in turn, caught them, grinning.

“Thanks,” he remarked.

Jared turned to Dean next, handing him one long-running Strength potion, and one Swiftness. The receiver smirked, and gave him a thumbs up.

But when Jared looked back at the potions to hand one to Jeff, he saw that there was only one Swiftness potion left. Jared had used the last of the group's sugar on these three drafts, and he realized that one person would have to go without the extra speed boost. But should Jeff have that disadvantage or should he?

It only took a second to decide. 

_‘Well,’_ he thought to himself. _'I guess I'll just have to take the hard route.’_ Without another thought, he passed the last brew to Jeff.

“Wait, Jared,” Jeff looked a bit nervous. “What about you?”

“I'll be fine,” the potion maker waved a dismissive hand. “I'm pretty fast anyway. That Wither won't be able to stop me.”

This, fortunately, seemed to reassure Jeff, but saying this to him somehow felt like a lie. Deep down inside his gut, Jared could feel an ominous sensation- as if maybe he wouldn't be fine after all. However, he ignored this feeling. He didn’t want to be selfish.

“Okay,” Chad was saying now. “I did a bit of research on this entity. Apparently other adventurers in the world have come across it, though they lived a long time ago, and in that book I read before leaving to join you guys, I found some useful information about this monster.

For one thing, we want to be far away from this guy, because once we place the soul sand and the skulls in the correct formation, it will just appear. We won't be able to hurt it for a few seconds either, so don't try. 

Another thing is that he shoots explosive skulls, and that could ruin our fighting ground pretty fas-”

“Wait, he shoots explosives?!”, Jared interrupted suddenly. He didn't like explosions- in fact, he had a strong fear of them. A bead of sweat formed on his face at the thought of projectile skulls filled with gunpowder.

“You'll be fine, Jared,” Dean gave him a reassuring pat on the back. “As long as you keep running, that is.”

Gulping, Jared nodded.

“At any rate, the Wither only really targets one person, unless we're really close together, so you won't have to worry if he doesn't go for you,” Chad continued.

“Alright then,” Jared nodded. 

Suddenly, in his mind, he saw something flashing- something cold and dark, and bare. It was empty. It scared him.

And then Dean drank his potion. 

“C’mon guys, let’s go already!”, he exclaimed. “I already downed my potion, let’s just go.”

“What?!”, Jeff cried. “Dean, why!”

With a chorus of annoyed sighs and expletives, they strode outside into the fields just beyond their home, to where Dean had set up a T shape out of four hardened pieces of Soul Sand. The sun was just beginning to set, but because Dean had already drank his potion, they would have to fight the Wither now- no matter what time of day it was.

The dying sunlight shone brilliantly on the four adventurers, highlighting the tips of their hairs, and making their skin almost seem to glow. For a few seconds, it lit up the many blades of grass in the field, turning them into a brilliant shining sea of rose red, daffodil yellow, and buttermilk white. It was beautiful.

Jared smiled as the world shone with the sun's reflections, breathing in the sweet fresh air as if he would never experience it again. It was a brief moment, but for the second that it lasted, Jared felt pure tranquility as he waded through the grass. 

As the glow faded to darkness, his face became stony once again. Jared knew he had to focus on the task ahead- defeating the fabled monster known simply as the Wither. Rumors described it with three skeletal heads and a singular spine- all black, oozing, and twisted. The thought of facing such a creature caused Jared's very bones to tremble.

But he had come this far, and he decided it was better to get the fight over with. Taking out his best sword, he watched as Dean placed the heads on the T. Jared, Jeff and Chad kept their distance as Dean carefully prepared the structure, as, according to Chad’s research, the Wither would create a mighty explosion that would kill them if they were too close. Naturally, Jared was one of the farthest ones away from the Wither, because of this. 

“We all ready?”, Dean asked, holding the final Wither skull above his head.  
The others shouted an affirmative cry back. The skull was lowered, only a few centimeters above the sand. Dean gave them all a wild smirk. 

“3…

2…

1…”, he counted down. “Let's go, boyyyys!!”

He dropped the skull on the sand with a ‘thunk’ and dashed out of the way as a flash of bright light lit up the darkening sky.

Clouds of phantom-like dust scattered, and the tower of Soul Sand crumpled away, revealing a shadowy blue figure.

It was disgusting- three charred skulls attached to a bony ribcage, a tar-like substance coming away from them in black, slimy strings. A spine dangled from the mess, acting almost like some sort of tail. An ugly smell came from the thing, and for some reason, it reminded Jared of delicious fruit that had been tainted- Both beautiful and terrible.  
He fought back nausea. 

He wanted to look away from the thing, but somehow, he just couldn't take his eyes off it. He was frozen, staring up at it as it formed, twisting and writhing. It was growing in size, and slowly rising high into the air until it blocked out the moon above them.

Suddenly, the adventurers heard a bang that made their ears sing, and clouds of smoke and ash bursted from the Wither. The explosion almost knocked them off their feet.

Then a loud, indescribable, haunting sound echoed through the night, causing even the stars to tremble. In the background of this noise, the fighters swore they could hear the distorted screams of those who had fallen victim to the Wither’s wrath.

As they watched in terrified awe, the Wither stared directly into Jared's sapphire eyes, its own hollow sockets glowing a bright light that almost blinded him. It seemed to look right through Jared, eyeing him strategically- carefully. Jared shuddered, but he was unable to break the eye contact.

Then, something strange happened.

For one second, Jared saw straight into the Wither's soul- understanding it's exact intentions. He saw into its mind, and its heart- or at least, what it had of those things. He expected a complex system of thoughts, desires, and emotions, but all he met was a single idea.

_‘Destructive Retribution- Terminate the Weak’_

Fear crept up his spine, causing his hair to stand on end.

He knew exactly who the monster was going to target.

The second finally passed, and the blueish luster faded from the Wither. Jared could hear Chad shouting “SHOOT IT, SHOOT IT!!”

But before anyone could draw their bows, the creature lunged at Jared, like a hawk. Letting out a cry, Jared ducked and began to run away from it.

“IT'S ATTACKING JARED!”, Jeff cried. Bows began to 'twang’ and arrows flew across the dark sky, some sinking in the goo between the Wither's bones, and others bouncing off.

Jared continued to dash, breathing heavily, but no matter how fast he ran, the Wither was always right above him, easily keeping pace. From it's three skeletal mouths, tiny explosive skulls fell towards Jared, leaving holes in the ground wherever they hit. Soon, the ground was rough- the terrain becoming harder and harder to traverse.

Tripping over rubble, Jared ran on, shield held high over his head, and heart beating rapidly. He heard banging all around him as explosions blotted out his view, and the ground shook under his feet. His ears were constantly ringing, and every muscle in his body was on fire as he continued to stumble away from the danger.

He was spinning out of control, running in circles like a deer being chased by a wolf. He'd never felt so afraid in his life. He could hear his friends in the background, shouting, but he couldn't quite hear what they were saying. All he knew was the unsteadiness and the pain.

Blood that must've come from some cut in his forehead ran freely down his face- obscuring his vision, and causing his eyelashes to stick together. It was soaking through his clothing, and running down the back of his neck. Jared was tripping over his own feet now, struggling to keep himself from crumpling to the ground. 

Everything hurt.

Through the dark crimson blur, he could see shadowy shapes coming for him- creatures of the night. Hiding behind a mound of dirt to catch his breath, Jared knew he wasn't going to make it.

 _'I should have kept the potion for myself’,_ part of his mind whispered.

 _‘But then Jeff would've been attacked,’_ he told himself. _'That wouldn't have been fair at all. It's better that I die than him anyway.’_

Wiping his eyes with his arm, Jared took a quick second to look down at his bloodied, breaking body. He was wounded pretty badly, but he just shook his head and stood up after glancing at himself. He'd have to put his own needs aside for the team. They just didn’t seem to be important at the moment. 

Looking up at the Wither, he could see that it was looking pretty beaten. Arrows stuck out of it from all sides, and it seemed to be growing weary- yet desperate. It wouldn't be long before they could win this.

With a sigh, Jared stood up to his full height, staring the Wither in the face. He held up his shield.

“Hey Wither!”, he called. “Come and get me!”

The beast turned to him once more.

“Come ooon, you know you waaant tooooo,” Jared cooed. “Nice tasty Jared right this way.”

“Jared what-?!”, came a startled cry.

“Shut up, Dean,” Jared whispered through gritted teeth. 

The Wither lunged at him, but he jumped back. A sharp jolt of pain coursed through his body and he cursed under his breath. He was in bad shape, and this would only make his state worse. 

A flaming skull came flying towards him and he ducked as it shot over his head. An explosion sounded behind him, and the force knocked him over.  
He groaned, but stood up, just in time to block an attack with his shield. 

He continued to taunt the monstrosity that hung over him, dodging projectiles with his light feet. Every movement hurt like hell, but he continued to stall the Wither.  
But he couldn’t do that for very long. 

Even now, he could feel his energy draining. Everything was hurting even more- or was it less, than it had before. He felt a sense of fatigue take control of him. His sides hurt from leaping around, his feet hurt from all that tripping, his arm hurt from holding up his shield, and those common aches seemed to be more prominent than even his wounds. With every leap, he was beginning to stumble more and more. 

He heard the others fighting the Wither in the background, but he couldn’t really see much through the pain and the enemies that were beginning to circle him, and the explosions and yet another stream of blood. He could only hope they were doing alright. 

The only sound he could hear now was his own beating heart. Every other noise had died away- even the ringing. As the other enemies drew closer, he breathed deeply. They were only a foot or two away from him now, hungry jaws waiting to dig into his flesh.

He slumped to the earth- half slipping and half tripping in his own blood. There he crouched, simply unable to get up. He closed his eyes clutching a red-gemmed pendant to his breast.

He was already dying- he could feel it. But somehow- he felt at peace with that. He knew the others could avenge him- and he didn't have any regrets. Using the last of his energy, he suddenly threw his head backward, screaming one final message.

“DO IT, MY FRIENDS! I BELIEVE IN YOU!”

He raised his weak arm into a thumbs-up- right as a zombie tore out his glistening, beating heart.

Everything went black and he was gone before his body hit the ground.

Yet, even then, a cry of “JARED NO!” still echoed through the hollow corridors of his empty mind. 

A few moments later, the Wither had died. The dawn of a new day came to pass, bathing the world in glorious sunlight. Birds were singing, butterflies were fluttering, and everything was alive. But while Chad and Dean cheered, Jeff was sitting by the corpse of his leader and friend. The victor quietly closed Jared's eyes, weighing the lids down with two small coins. Tears ran freely down Jeff's face, but he didn't bother to wipe them away. 

“Jared,” he sniffled. “Y-You were so close.”

He picked a few nearby dandelions and placed them in the hole in his chest- covering up the chasm for the most part. Now, it only seemed like Jared was sleeping- if one ignored the blood that was starting to dry on his face, or the fact that the flowers were actually coming out of his bosom. For, despite the pain he had gone through at the end, Jared's face was one of peace. 

That made Jeff feel a little better- especially when he saw that Jared almost seemed to be smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, if y'all could send any tips for how I could improve, that'd be much appreciated. I won't bite! ^u^


End file.
